


Surge

by whitepirate



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Translation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:14:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitepirate/pseuds/whitepirate
Summary: This story was originally written in Chinese (by myself). Thank Google translate for completing this :PLet me know if there is any grammar mistake or typo.Obito and Kakashi knew each other from the very beginning of the story.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Impulse

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Surge](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24438280) by [whitepirate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitepirate/pseuds/whitepirate). 



This was an old story long and long ago, with a name that almost faded.

He thought he was about to forget.

\+ +

Surge

Impulse

\+ +

The classmates who stayed in Tokyo after graduating from college organized a party to show off to each other and have a good meal in the name of reunion. Our protagonist Uchiha Obito appeared, and our protagonist's crushed in love when he was young, Nohara Rin, also attended. There were many others at the same time.

Someone was not there.

He thought that this was a matter of course. He remembered that Kakashi did not take the university in Tokyo. Where did he go, Chiba?

Rin took the initiative to sit beside him. He was thinking that it was rare that Rin was so active. Her smile was still so cute after they were not seeing each other for so many years.

Rin opened her mouth, but asked: "Why didn't Kakashi come with you?"

Ah, that one again, Hatake Kakashi.

He wondered why she asked so.

Rin said seriously, don't mess around, are you kidding me?

With Obito got more confused, Rin became more and more angry, and the two almost quarreled, being pulled away by Gekko and Shiranui.

Don’t mess up the party, we are all happy here. When someone said so, Obito said to Rin, if we could go out and have a talk.

So they left the izakaya and walked aimlessly down the street. Rin said that Kakashi had transferred to Tokyo when he was a sophomore, thinking he was here to find you.

Question marked on Obito's head.

"I've never seen him."

"You didn't take the initiative to contact him."

"Why do you blame me again?"

"Do you want him to take the initiative to contact you?"

"How can he not take the initiative to contact me ?" "

"Do you know why you are always the one been dumped?"

"Wait, what does it matter with this?"

Rin strode forward vigorously and trot all the way followed by Obito. She turned to a dessert shop which was closing soon and bought herself an ice cream cone to eat. Obito followed her, did not know whether he should get up to pay her. The atmosphere was very strange.

Eating ice cream can calm yourself down, Rin whispered to herself.

"It's really annoying to talk to you," Rin said. "Although I know you are not intentional, and I think you are not unaware."

"I don't know what?" Obito asked in his mind, but he didn't want Rin to be angry any more, so he didn't say anything, just bit his lips.

Because Rin blamed him all the night, he didn’t know whether he really knew the thing Rin mentioned, and what was the thing he knew, and what was the thing he didn’t know?

"I always thought the two of you didn't break up, didn't you?" Rin said as she ate ice cream-strawberry flavored.

"What broke up?" Obito - question marks all over his face.

"Aren't you dating at that time?" Rin continued her word naturally.

...?

\+ +

Because they were born and raised up in small places, the majority of the students in the school they attended have not changed from elementary school to high school. The young are familiar, many have been to each other's home to play around, their parents can call the names of their children's classmates.

He knew Rin and Kakashi since his childhood. They started in the same class, Kakashi and he headed home in the same direction. They had made a fuss or a fight some time, not too seriously, and he had deliberately been later once or more, and found that Kakashi would wait for him.

At that time it was only nine years old. he thinks. The memories of youth are already vague.

He remembers that Kakashi’s father died because he saved someone in danger. After that, Kakashi was bullied in school because he had no father at home.

At that important time, it was him who rushed to Kakashi to block the big guys.

The story was seemed like this, in his ambiguous memory.

They were both injured, Rin brought him and Kakashi to the infirmary. At that time, he was very happy to be taken care of by Rin. Isn't is a good thing to be brave and save someone?

Kakashi and his mother moved to another part of the town, and after that they all entered the junior high school and were assigned to different classes. The direction of returning home was different then. If they walked together, only half of the road would overlap.

Obito joined the football club. He had three days for club activity, and two days left to do math for each week. He told Kakashi that he couldn’t go home together with him because of this schedule.

Kakashi said, Thursday.

How about Thursday.

It seemed to be possible on Thursday, he counted his fingers, wondering why Kakashi knew when he was free?

I have club activity on Thursday, and the end time was about the same. Kakashi said so.

Said Obito, oh, this is the case. He didn't think much about that, nor did he ask what Kakashi was doing for club.

In fact, he did not know why he had to go home with Kakashi.

Obviously they all grew up, and should spend more time with girls.

Although he made an appointment with Kakashi, he usually arrived a little late. From five minutes to half an hour. Sometimes longer.

At first, Kakashi would blame him a few words. The two quarreled like they used to do when they were kids. 

Not too long after that, Kakashi said nothing any more. 

He would see Kakashi sit down on the edge of the football field and watch their activities. Sometimes he read his booklet, seems like a novel or something. Manager of the team would be very happy for seeing him, ah, he remembered that Kakashi was very popular in girls at that time.

Rin also liked him, he remembered.

Every year, Kakashi’s storage box on Valentine’s Day would be filled with chocolate, and there were love letters from time to time, sometimes required him a meet after school in the playground.

It was not about a fight, but never seeing him took the invite.

Some times, when Kakashi was waiting for him on the football field, Obito would see girls chatting up to him.

This made him a little uncomfortable.

Why?

Why am I not as popular as him? I am also very handsome. He thought that was what he was thinking at that time.

But Kakashi was never late, except once.

Junior high school was coming to an end, Kakashi was late.

As they mentioned at the beginning, they would meet each other after the end of the club activity. 

He was late for an hour himself. It was very late in the afternoon. He waited until everyone left, and was teased by his teammates. "Are you waiting for your girlfriend? Hasn't she already left?"

He was angry for the joke, which made he want to strike them.

He thought Kakashi wouldn't be like this, but after waiting for half an hour, he was a little angry. He wondered if the stupid Kakashi had already returned home, and the sun was setting, shall I go back home as well?

Then he went home alone, and looked around hesitantly at the corner where he and Kakashi were separated on the way home. If it was usual, he might help the old grandmother to pick up things, send them back, go around in a big circle, and then go home.

But angry, he went straight back.

He was so angry that he went to Kakashi's class to find him the next day, and asked him when he was heading home last night.

Kakashi looked at him with the dead eyes for a while and said, sorry.

Without answering his question.

It was weird, Obito just wanted to ask, when Rin greeted him, and his attention distracted.

The same thing happened in the coming week.

Obito recalled the thing happened last week, thought that he won't wait for him next time, and then waited for half an hour and left.

We should grow up, and can't we go home together like this, right?

The more he thought, the more angry he was, so halfway back to school.

No, I must ask him to give me an explanation. He thought this way, and does not want to think about what Kakashi said when he helped the grandmother cross the road to let Kakashi wait for a long time.

He went to Kakashi's classroom to find him, and the classroom was closed. He remembered that he didn't actually know what Kakashi was doing on Thursday.

He went around the school, and there were only a few rooms with lights on, and he searched the room to find him one by one.

Finally, he found the office of the teacher of Kakashi's class. When he just wanted to knock on the door, the door opened.

Startled him.

Kakashi came out with his teacher, and the two of them were obviously taken aback by him.

The smell was strange.

He frowned.

"Good afternoon Minato Sensei." He bowed. He could still be very ceremonial at this moment.

"Ah, this is Uchiha, hello." Minato Sensei scratched his head. He remembered that Minato Sensei taught Japanese and Kakashi said that Sensei's wife was about to have a baby.

"It's so late at school..." The teacher continued, his voice still not falling when Obito grabbed Kakashi's wrist and said that Sensei we were going back home, then turned and ran.

"Hey? Oh, be careful on the road--" Minato's voice disappeared in the wind.

Kakashi was almost stumbled by him, and the two ran out of the school gate and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi finally had time to breathe and asked with a big breath.

"It's nothing, I think you're too late." He said with his back to him.

They walked to the park where the direction diverged as usual, and Kakashi waved and said goodbye to Obito, but Obito did not move.

"?" Kakashi did not move either.

The two, 15 years old, shined on their faces in the evening of summer with a purple-red sky. A little warm wind blew past, accompanied by bursts of cicadas.

"I haven't asked you, what's the club for every Thursday?" Looking at Kakashi, Obito had no expression of anger or seriousness on his face.

"Ah, that is." Kakashi touched his cheek with his index finger. When he was uncomfortable, he would have such small gesture, and Obito knew that well. 

"Minato Sensei will teach me Japanese." 

"Why do representative of Japanese have to take extra club activity for Japanese?" Asked Obito, he didn't know why he questioned like this.

"To improve." Kakashi said. "I have learned a lot of high school textbooks." His face was quite calm when he said so.

"Don't wait for me next week."

Clenching his fists, Obito didn't know what to say but really want to scold him, however, there was no reason. He finally waved at Kakashi without saying goodbye.

Then he somehow decided to continue to wait for Kakashi next week.

"I think he has become a little strange." He asked Rin to come out and chat, and he asked her things about Kakashi.

Rin looked at him in surprise and told him that she assumed he was going to say something else. Then she thought for a while:"I thought there is nothing you don't know about him, so it turns out to have some..."

"Did he fall in love?" asked Obito.

"Huh?" Rin's eyes widened. "I haven't heard so. He usually goes home alone."

"There is, only you on Thursday."

Rin's testimony was not helpful at all.

On Thursday, he packed a bag of clothes and shoes from the football team into his storage box, stuffed it up, and climbed up the tree outside the window of Minato's office.

The curtains closed tightly without any gaps.

He didn't know why, it was just like his assumption.

Was it because of the smell at that time? he thought. He had a bad feeling about it.

Waiting on the tree seemed like a century for him, when he was about to leave, Minato Sensei suddenly opened the curtains, which shocked him that he almost fell off the tree. Fortunately, his position was hidden, and the teacher could not see him.

Then he saw Kakashi wearing his clothes.

He felt tangled in his stomach, he hoped that the thing wouldn't be like this.

That person, very kind and decent, always got straight A, good boy in teachers's eyes, the stupid Kakashi for him, so it should not be in this way.

He felt very sad, but quite angry at the same time.

What was it to do with him to be sad and angry?

He was only someone else in the story.

He climbed down the tree and returned to the school entrance. The schoolbag was dropped on the ground and he sat down watching the sky. When the stupid Kakashi passed under his eyelids, it was almost half an hour later.

"Late." he whispered.

Kakashi saw him and stopped several steps away.

"Let's go home," said Obito.

Then he got up and picked up his bag on his shoulders and walked in front of Kakashi. Kakashi followed him at a distance.

They would have separated at the park on their way home, but Obito said this time, "I will go home with you today."

Kakashi said nothing.

It was completely dark, the street lights were on, and there was no moon but stars in the clear night.

On the way back to Kakashi's home, there would be a river. The two of them were still walking one after the other, and Obito suddenly stopped his steps. 

He Asked :"Kakashi, do you like Sensei?"

Kakashi said, you saw that.

Then, without saying anything, he stopped and watched the river flowed quietly to the south.

Every year in midsummer, the river is very shallow, and the stones at the bottom of the dam are exposed.

"Speak," said Obito, turning around and grabing Kakashi's collar. "Answer me." 

He cried as he spoke. Silly crybaby, crying when losing the game at childhood, crying for friends when grown up.

Like a fool.

Kakashi said: "What are you crying for, I haven't cried yet."

Obito said with tears: "Sensei's wife is pregnant, aren't you feeling shame for doing this? Aren't you aware that you turned Rin down for doing this? She likes you. Aren't you aware that..." 

"You turned me down because I trusted you."

Kakashi watched Obito, seeing him slowly squatted down, and then looked away.

"I love someone else. Not Sensei." He answered.

Never ever.

Obito sucked his nose and said, "Then you do not do that again with Sensei."

Kakashi looked down at him, in the dim streetlight, Obito's nose and eyes was red, and said, "What are you asking me for?"

Obito didn't know what to say for a while. Like something stuck in the throat, as he was crying, it was even more hard to say anything.

Kakashi said, "Then be with me."

Obito felt his face blush, and said how could it be-

Kakashi smiled lightly, and said, with you, I can tell the Sensei that I have you accompanied.

Obito thought, oh, sure, how the word can have any other meaning.

Then he agreed dumbly.

Later he recalled Kakashi's bitter smile at that moment, looked like he was mocking himself.

what was it for?

Minato Sensei did not stay with Kakashi anymore after that. On Thursday, Kakashi would wait for Obito after school and slept by the playground. As a result, he was simply asked by the football team to join them and run around the playground together. Fortunately, Kakashi was not bad at sports, he even played well at it.

Why he joined the team? Somehow Obito felt quite happy for that.

After a while, Obito heard from Kakashi that Sensei's wife gave birth to a healthy son named Naruto. He pouted and said if it was possible he didn't want to hear Sensei's name anymore. Kakashi said that would be fine, but Rin would still tell you.

He was right, Obito thought, because he would go to Kakashi’s class for him from time to time. He was to check if Kakashi was doing anything bad, but he didn’t know what bad thing Kakashi could do.

Then he could have a chat with Rin. However, there was no more interaction between them.

What he wanted to do with her?

He found that he had not actually considered this matter.

Because he always remembered that Rin liked Kakashi.

...Who did Kakashi like? He had said it was not Sensei.

He loved someone else.

Obito never seemed to think about it.

One year later, they all attended high school, the higher grades in the same school. Classes discipline didn't change much. There was not much pressure for them in the first and the second years, they stayed together almost every day.

Everything was calm and slow.

Like nothing happened before. 

He did not forget (the secret of Kakashi), and he was surprised to figure that his memory was very good. Kakashi never mentioned that again, but Obito always remembered it.

He remembered that he had made a promise to accompany him, and in the eyes of high school students the time window of promise was like forever.

He felt that something had changed. In his heart, he knew very well that if there was a garden in everyone's heart, the scenery had changed dramatically.

The door of this garden would open to someone.

He wanted to turn blind to the fact.

After entering high school, Kakashi went to play baseball. As a result, the activities of the two clubs coincided, and they could still go home after school together, and occasionally went to one's homes to play video games under the disguise of studying.

His mother remembered Kakashi liked saury, and the dinner would be specially prepared. He squeezed his nose and said take it away from me. But his mother would say how healthy it is to eat fish, you shall learn from Kakashi. Unlike you, you only eat sweets like a child.

He was pissed off that Kakashi became the good model from out side, in his mother's eyes, Kakashi did everything better than himself.

The next time, he would still take Kakashi home.

He knew that Kakashi wouldn't go anywhere else.

It was just a habit that he had such a friend, such a good friend that can play together, sharing happiness and sadness.

In the second year of high school, Kakashi asked him how about the college he may apply for. He said that he heard that Rin wanted to go to Tokyo, and he wanted it too, any college of Tokyo worked for him.

Kakashi stuck out his tongue.

Obito asked, what you want to say? Then he reached out, tend to catch Kakashi's neck.

Kakashi dodged his hand, said :"Sounds like you have to study really hard for it, maybe I can teach you math and Japanese, come to my home next time?"

Sometimes Kakashi's facial expressiong really looked like asking for a fight.

He knew Obito so well, this boy never admit the thing he really want at the beginning. He seemed don't want to listen to Kakashi's words, as a fact, it worked well. He often knocked Kakashi's door in the weekend.

On the wood floor in Kakashi's backyard, Kakashi fanned the fan while lying on the side, explaining geometry to Obito. His mother would prepared them a plate of watermelon and Obito could not move his eyes from the fruit at a distance.

Sighed Kakashi, continued to fan. He just explained three times on the same topic to Obito.

He watched Obito eating watermelon, with face covered with melon flakes. He got up and went to the inner room, back with a box of tissue in his hand.

"Here you are." He drew a piece of tissue and handed it to Obito, staring at the fool with a thoughtful look on his face.

"What's the matter?" Obito wiped his face with the tissue, noted that Kakashi had stared at him for three minutes. It was a bit strange. "Is there still something on my face?"

"No, I was only thinking, how many times I would feel bored to explain the same topic to the one I have a feeling on.” Kakashi used normal expression on his face when he said this.

Obito mocked him without thinking and said, "Don't say so as if you had a chance to teach someone you like."

Kakashi answered with a poker face :"Ha ha." 

After a while, Obito felt blackout.

What did that mean just now?

Shouldn't I be the person he was talking about...?

He watched Kakashi picked up the plate with the melon peels, went back to the kitchen, and did not continue the conversation.

"Is he really can't understand it, or just pretend that he can't understand..." Kakashi's mumbling voice flew from the kitchen ambiguously.

Obito seemed to hear it, and thought he had heard it wrongly.

Obito was not a fool at all, Kakashi knew it.

\+ +

They went to the festivals in the sophomore summer and winter holiday together. 

There are fireworks in the summer holiday, and snow scene in the winter holiday.

Obito's mother prepared a yukata for him. He wondered, why shall I dress up in such a formal way. It was not with a girlfriend.

But he promised to Kakashi at that time, which gradually became the default situation for both of them.

He recalled it now, only to remember that Kakashi wore very beautiful Yuori both times, and with a mask on his face saying that he did not want to be disturbed.

Or maybe he meant that he didn't want to be disturbed when he was with him.

In spring vacation, they went to the beach for a walk, and stayed until the night came. When sitting at the beach, Kakashi leaned on his shoulder and dozed. He whispered, "if you are pretending to sleep, don’t even think I don’t know." 

Kakashi didn't move a finger with his eyes closed, he glared Kakashi's thick eye lashes flashing under the sun set glow, and missed the feeling that his heart just stopped beating for a second.

There were many, many more memories.

His face turned blue and white for a while, staring the sunset in the direction of the Tokyo Tower, closing his eyes.

Where did that Kakashi go?

After graduating, they went to different cities. He didn’t know why they didn’t contact each other again, as if the promise had expired after graduation.

He used to think about sending Kakashi a message to ask him what he was doing, and he felt that he was not the right one to send these words. It was strange, so he deleted it.

Kakashi disappeared completely in his life.

Later, he had girlfriends, but easily broke up somehow.

He didn't know why he can't keep any relationship for a long time.

His memories about someone haunted in his mind, which was once clear enough to see every detail, then gradually blurred after years.

Who was the person he missed so much?

\+ +

"Okay, so you two were broken up?" Rin wiped her fingers with a tissue and looked up seriously at Obito. "I remember that you had a girlfriend in freshman and sophomore year, I was thinking that you cheated on Kakashi."

Obito was speechless.

The two leaned against the iron net on the side of road at the entrance of a highway tunnel, chatting like they were at the back door of the classroom when they were young.

"Do you know where he is now?" asked Obito, with a gloomy tone.

Although he asked, he thought he would never go back to find Kakashi. There was no reason, and he didn't know what happened to Kakashi in so many years.

Time will always take away all the pain, maybe Kakashi loved him before, maybe he had fallen in love with Kakashi even he didn't realize, but so what about it?

All the feeling in childhood will slowly wiped and disappeared in the wormhole of time.

Then nobody can retrieve it again.

"I don't know. I was looking forward to seeing him today." Rin said so.

"Sorry," followed by Obito.

"What's that? Why do you apologize to me."

"At that time, Rin liked Kakashi, weren't you?" Obito laughed at himself, he wondered if he now looked like Kakashi at that time.

The time Kakashi's smile looked like mocking himself.

"It's all over." Rin raised her right hand. "Look." 

The shiny ring with diamond was on her middle finger.

"I'm engaged."

"Ohh -- you didn't mention it."

"Well. I intended to announce in front of everyone. The wedding will be held in September, I want to invite everyone to come." Rin looked away.

"Ah-I'm sorry, really sorry." The conversation ended up with apologize from Obito in every sentence.

It was easy to apologize to girls, but perhaps not that easy to Kakashi.

Maybe it was only too much to apologize. Maybe he was already forgiven by the man. Maybe there was nothing to apologize for. 

"Leave it." Lin sighed. "I'm going to send the invitation by mail."

"What about Kakashi's invitation?" Obito rubbed his nose.

"Send it back to my hometown. Maybe my parents can help me with it." Rin finished her words, and suddenly smiled. "If we couldn't find him, wouldn't he be a legend?"

"You can say so like that." Obito's face was full with a mix of expression, not smile nor cry.

"Em? You still want to find him now? It should be too late." Rin grimaced at him.

Obito replied with a bitter smile.

What if Kakashi had already found his right other half of his life, started a new life, and forgot all the past?

Or if...

\+ +

"Obi-to."

Kakashi dragged his voice and shouted at Obito at the back door of the classroom.

He came to give the graduation book to Obito, because Rin was also included.

That was the end of the entire high school.

Kakashi was patient as usual.

For an entire class, the whole graduation book had 20-30 pages, no more, no less.

"Thank you, thank you Kakashi!" Obito was exited to pick him up at the back door.

"Think carefully, maybe many of them will be forgotten in the future. Forget their face, and their name." He murmured as he reached over and took the graduation book handed over from Kakashi. Although he just thought about this in his mind, he said it out unconsciously at that moment.

"Huh?" Kakashi gently patted the graduation book on his chest. "What are you talking about."

"I won't forget ." Kakashi said.

"I won't forget you."

-End-


	2. Rising Tide

The best case is that no traces will be left.

In physical body, mental mind, and in memory.

Everything shall evaporate.

\+ +

Surge

Rising Tide

\+ +

After graduating from college, Kakashi returns to his alma mater high school to apply for a job, Japanese teacher. Principal Sarutobi is surprised to see him and asks why did you come back.

Oops, how does Sarutobi Sensei remember me... he thinks, laughing with embarrassment.

"We mentioned you two years ago." Sarutobi smiles with his pipe, as if remembering a good old time, "Me and Namikaze."

"Ah... Minato Sensei." Kakashi nods. "Is Minato Sensei still teaching at school?"

Speaking of this, is the principal's office non-smoking? Kakashi thinks, looking up at the non-smoking sign on the wall.

Sarutobi glances at him, and then turns out to the window: "He passed away last year. Without telling you, his family asked for it."

As he says, he smokes and breathes, and the floating smoke separates them.

He died for a brain tumor, and he had gone very quickly at the time he got sick...but very peacefully. Kakashi listens to Sarutobi slowly talking while smoking his tobacco, his mind glancing through the details in his memory.

"He had this problem for years, the tumors here," says Sarutobi, tapping his brow tails with his fingers. "It can't be removed by a simple craniotomy. There was a bomb that no one knows when it would explode."

"I always knew about this. It was discovered on medical examination shortly after he came to our school. At that time, Kushina was just pregnant and he didn't tell her. Emm... Kushina is his wife, maybe you don't know. I helped to keep his secret, but no one blamed me for this."

It was that time. Kakashi looks down, thinking.

"Every teacher will notice if their students have something in mind. I knew him, and I think he knew you."

"We can only help students in our own ways, but our methods are not always right."

"After he left, I often think about these things."

Kakashi closes his eyes.

\+ +

Where to start?

He knew at the beginning that Minato Sensei intentionally kept him stay after school, for some purpose. He can get full marks on those questions. He had read textbooks of upper grades when he was free, and he understood the concept well. There was no reason to take special classes for it.

He also thought about whether he would be harmed by the teacher. He only has mom at home, and he wanted to protect her.

If he can protect himself, he can also protect his mother.

Who could he protect? He squeezed his fist.

But no one's soul is perfect.

He was not, neither was his teacher.

His father's family education was extreme, made he grow up with a quiet personality.

There was no disobedience, there was no "can't do", there was no impossible.

Therefore, he always pretended to be brave in front of others, a perfect top student, and his grades can only accept perfection, no flaws at all. Pushing himself to the peak, making himself difficult to catch a breathe.

After his father's death, the extreme love became a void, and even became the object of attack by others.

He knew he was weak, not only unable to fight back, but even unable to protect his self-esteem.

When his ego in all senses was gradually broken, Obito appeared in front of him to protect.

He couldn’t remember what happened exactly that day. He only remembered that at last his classmate, Rin, dragged him and Obito with their swollen nose and face, went to the infirmary, and helped them explain the scenario to teachers. They didn’t mess up. Students from upper classes bullied them, they just countered.

Since that, he would notice this classmate, pretentious Uchiha, unintentionally, from time to time.

Back to the beginning, he was just a common classmate who will go home with him because their direction was the same.

After the physical education class, he would lean on the window of the corridor and watch his classmate Uchiha running in playground, lap after lap, watching him fall and stand up again, watching him get tired, take a breather on the side of the road, was pushed away by the seniors and said don't disturb them in practice, he worried that he would have clash with them.

They have different personalities and characters obviously, which may not match, he didn't know why he cared.

During the choir competition, they were assigned to stand together because their heights were close. His singing was almost taken away by Uchiha's tone. The two quarreled in the practice class, accusing each other at wrong tone. Their teacher carried them outside of the classroom in corridors for penalty stand.

Standing, he stared at the sky without sadness.

"What are you laughing at?" Obito glanced at him.

"I did not laugh." Kakashi said.

The two were silent for a while, and Kakashi said, "Look at the sports on the playground there, is the fat boy funny?"

Obito said, ah-oh, if Akimichi heard, he would be angry.

Kakashi said, oh, so that is Akimichi. But he is really fat.

Obito said, I told you don't say fat.

Then the teacher ducked his head to interrupt them, saying that the two of you were not allowed to chat, you, stand at the front door, and you, stand at the back door.

So Obito went to the back door, and Kakashi stood at the front door.

Obito smiled this time.

Kakashi glanced at him and talked to him with his lips, what are you laughing at?

Obito answered the same words with his lips: I did not laugh.

The two stared at each other with wide eyes and secretly laughed. Can't be found by the teacher.

They were really happy.

Something changed soon. They were chased by time, running wildly on the road of growing, without any chance to stop and have a breath.

After entering junior high school, they were assigned to different classes. Minato Sensei took over No.4 class that Kakashi attended, and Obito was in No.7 class downstairs.

The progress of growing up is the process of adding chips to different realms.

Love letters began to appear in his lockers. He opened a few of them and read, all of which were some exaggerated delicate words for him. It might make sense for someone else as well as him, he reckoned.

"I have a feeling on you, Kakashi."

There were such words, cute handwriting, each dot is drawn into a circle without a signature, but he thought it was written by Rin.

Feeling.

What is feeling?

He is actually very clear. He thought he could not have it, so he wanted to make himself forget.

Because he remembered the feeling from the beginning, the kind of pain in his chest that was so hot but so painful and unforgettable, it was because of his classmate Uchiha.

He now called him Obito.

Obi-to.

He would prolong the voice.

He wanted to hide this feeling because it looked so inappropriate.

It is inappropriate but not for its abnormal. 

Yes, the person he liked was a boy. He didn't know if his mother could accept it. He didn't know whether he only liked Obito or he liked this gender.

The detailed unknown part in his life. He was the top student and there should be no such unknown thing.

Every question shall have its right answer.

Such confusion was seen by Minato Sensei.

Results had proved that Kakashi's keen instinct was correct, and Minato Sensei finally told him the truth halfway through the semester.

\+ +

Indeed, teacher can see if student has something to worry about, but as a teacher, you should not use and abuse this.

Now, he thinks this way, but back to the time, desperate himself seemed to have no other way to choose.

Minato Sensei, at that time, was suffering from serious illness, who could not transfer or release this pressure, kept silence in despair every day. It shall be hopeful and happy to have children in family, but the original pressure will also increase exponentially.

Increase to the extent that was unbearable.

He understands that circumstance.

He doesn't blame Minato Sensei, nor Obito. It's just his experience which cannot be repeated or obliterated, and this secret has been sealed and will not exposed to anyone else any more.

\+ +

"Kakashi likes Obito."

Minato Sensei said this, sitting behind the desk, tapping the tabletop gently with a pen.

Kakashi raised his eyes and looked at the teacher, then lowered his head again, saying that there was no such thing.

"I can see it, teacher's eyes can see everything." Minato Sensei smiled at him, every time he smiled, it would make himself look reliable. He thought this way at the time, and when he recalls the memory ten years later, he still think so.

Kakashi did not answer.

It may be that such children are more easily used by teachers. Children who seem to be clever and sensible are more likely to be used by adults.

"You're confused, right? About love."

What exactly did Minato Sensei see in his eyes?

"Would you like to have a try with me? To understand yourself."

Kakashi knew that he was the kind of kid who will make a sound if being used. He had choices. He wanted to be saved. It was real. He wanted to get free from this quagmire. That's what he thought, so he made his own decision.

"Okay, Sensei."

To be fair, in Kakashi's opinion, Minato Sensei was very nice to him, and he also liked Sensei. Although Sensei might do something that he was not willing to cooperate, in general, he was okay with that.

He realized that there were different kinds of like.

The odd relationship between he and Minato Sensei might have distracted him from Obito to a certain extent, but the substance had not changed much.

It was just a slough jumping out, stepping into another slough.

He couldn't deceive himself, and when he woke up late at night, he felt the blank in heart even clearer.

Just when he thought he would accelerate into the world of adult numb, unexpectedly, the real protagonist of his world intervened and dragged him out of this quagmire.

There he went an inexplicable agreement, then three happy years incredible.

While the time being together with Obito was prolong to infinite in his memory, he gradually understood many things.

It turns out that love is love that will not change to anything else.

It will not change to a butterfly flying away, nor a sea wave rolling, nor a firefly in summer, nor a street lamp on the way home, nor the sunlight scattering into the tram, love will not become any other thing.

Just love.

He don't have to touch, nor beg, he would have what he deserved.

He wouldn't think about more, because those might not belong to him.

He realized that what he wanted was something very small.

In spring vacation of last year in high school, he said to Obito, how about going to Enoshima to see the sea. Obito agreed, and didn't ask him why.

Although they always quarreled at the beginning, and they looked different from each other, but after a long time getting together, they found that their views and opinions were very similar. In many cases, language was not really a method of communication for them, it was more like a measurement tool to confirm the existence of each other.

Because their thoughts were very similar, they know each other's situation quite well.

The upcoming third year in high school would be very busy, they would have no time to waste because they all wanted to go to college. Endless exercises and exams were waiting for them.

Chance to go to the sea.

Obito brought back two bottles of soda, Coke and Fanta, from the vending machine, and put them in front of Kakashi: you choose one first.

Kakashi said on his face, I did not like sweet flavor, and then took Fanta.

"Did you see Fanta's recent advertisement? Drink a bottle of Fanta and you can definitely go to the school you want to go." said Obito, with a smile. In the sunshine of spring, Kakashi felt that Obito seemed to have grown up a lot, and was no longer the little boy in the elementary school.

At that time was a little boy, somehow his back view looked tall in his view.

And now, he became a willful, unconscious, but very, very gentle boy.

His classmate, his friend, his brother, along with his side.

The person he loved.

Was it not enough?

Obito sitting next to him, he leaned his head on his shoulder.

He had never been so active before.

"I feel tired." He explained.

Obito didn't say anything, just drinking Coke in silence.

He realized that what he wanted was something very small, just the time spent together in this way was enough.

It was enough that after everything disappeared, he could read these pictures flashing in his memory, and he felt very happy for the moment.

_Fate_ is not about meeting and knowing each other. _Fate_ is the time that people share together.

Just a few seconds, can be extended to eon, and even forever.

Then, the time folded as treasure in his world.

\+ +

At that time, he confessed the story with Minato Sensei, and surprisingly, Sensei was very happy for him.

He said goodbye to the teacher when he left, and the teacher said sorry to him.

He didn't cry, why did he cry?

He is not Uchiha Obito.

He used to think he might have forgotten this matter, but when Principle Sarutobi mentioned the past, he remembered it.

What is it like to look back now?

Principle Sarutobi said that he could be exempted from the test and let him take the position earlier, but he declined. Sarutobi laughed and said that the only difference is another chance to get a full mark.

Kakashi thought, in fact, my grades are that good. He don't know if the principal is beautifying him or touting him.

After leaving school, he takes a tram to Enoshima to see the sea, as he did at old time, only without Obito. Maybe it is time of rising tide.

What is the difference between the autumn sea and the spring sea?

After graduating from high school, he was admitted to a university outside the town and Obito went to Tokyo. Rin went to women's university, and Obito had no chance to go with her.

Did he really like Rin? He did not know, nor did he intend to know.

Finally they will all meet someone new and start a new life.

He sincerely blessed to everyone. Before leaving his hometown for school, he went to Koyurugi Shrine next to Enoshima to pray for them.

He hoped Obito will forget all these things, let past things pass. Then he did not contact Obito anymore, he did not want to make this agreement into bondage, it would be ugly.

As long as he can be free and easy, he will do so.

He sits on the bench they used to sit on, drinking green tea bought from the same vending machine, and watching the waves pound the beach.

What is he thinking about?

He didn't think about anything.

What are Obito thinking about?

He hopes Obito will not think about anything.

\+ +

Of course there is a reason why Principal Sarutobi rushed to get him to work.

Class 7 is too fucking hard to take.

No, teacher cannot say dirty words.

This Uzumaki Naruto, and this Uchiha Sasuke, are fighting again. He waits to pick them up in the infirmary, and then plan to sent them home.

What's wrong with them? he thinks. He hears from Sarutobi that Naruto is the son of Minato Sensei, but he doesn't know why he uses his mother's surname.

Naruto doesn't look like Minato Sensei, except that the blonde hair at the first glance is obviously hereditary.

Then here goes Sasuke, since his surname is Uchiha, he doesn’t know how close is his relatives with Obito, they only have the same black hair, nothing else can be compared. From their looks to their personalities, there is no analogy. Sasuke, like himself, is an all-A student, while Obito's grades were depending on his poverty alleviation.

He scratchs his hair and thinks to himself, indeed, teachers could see if students have something in mind. These two naughty boys having things in mind just like himself back to the time.

He doesn’t know what kind of things it is, he has to be patient and observe.

The doctor is still bandaging, and Kakashi is sitting outside on the bench, watching a black-haired student-looking man come from the end of the corridor, and hurries towards him.

He looks similar to Sasuke.

"You must be Hatake Sensei." The man bows to him, and the etiquette of Uchiha family are always so thorough.

He also gets up and bows back, saying hello I am Hatake Kakashi, are you a parent of Sasuke?

"I am his brother."

Oh, he remembered that the principal Sarutobi also said that Sasuke had an older brother who was in high school before, skipping to college pre-requisite courses.

Must be him --

"Uchiha Itachi."

Long admiration. He almost blurts out.

He thinks, now he knows how a complicated family relationship creates a complicated situation for Sasuke.

"My brother has troubled you, I'm very sorry." Itachi continues, with a very sincere attitude.

Kakashi feels that in this sincerity, there seems to be some unspeakable cunning that made him a little headache.

"No, it is fine, it is my responsibility." He feels that this routine stylized answer seems to have entered the young man's trap before him. Is he deliberated?

Or do I worry too much?

He wants to ask Itachi more about the two children, but his doubts is blocked by this indescribable sincerity, so he decides to keep the question until later.

Naruto, who is escorted home by Kakashi, tells him everything he has done. He reckons that Naruto is a thoroughly honest boy, didn’t know who he learned from, maybe from his mother? Minato Sensei's personality was quite different.

It turns out that Naruto likes Sakura, and Sakura likes Sasuke, again the unexpected rivalry reappears. But this is not the reason of fight.

Naruto and Sasuke have different personalities, and have different perspectives and solutions on things. Sometimes they argued, but they did not have confliction.

"It may be that I told him about his brother, which made him unhappy." Naruto says, looking at the sky.

"Oh, did you say bad things about his brother?" Kakashi accepts.

"That's not enough. I said he was only following his brother, and then he was angry." Naruto frowns in confused.

It may be that the little boy worships his brother while having a strong self-esteem, so he felt offended with this sentence. Kakashi thinks.

The world of the young is easy to understand in some part, and is really hard to understand in the rest. Even they know each other, they put each other as a rival. Maybe this is a method of progressing?

"Kakashi Sensei, do you think I should apologize to him?" Naruto looks at Kakashi very seriously.

"Do you think it is necessary?" Kakashi asks.

"If I hurt Sasuke's feelings, I think it is necessary to apologize."

"Why?"

"Because we are friends." Naruto replies confidently.

Isn't that a good answer? Kakashi thinks. "If you think it's right, you have to do it."

"Sensei agrees with me?"

"Of course."

"How about pursuing Sakura!"

"Eh this is..."

Later after that, he also sends Sasuke home once, as Sasuke told him that his family became quiet after his brother went to college, sometimes the empty was unbearable, on the one to one chat between he and Sasuke. Teacher schedule. He proposed to send him home after school.

He thinks he might look lonely like Sasuke when he was a kid, then Minato Sensei noticed, and made a choice that should not be made. At this point, he is still different from his teacher. He is the type that strictly restricts himself and of course he is not pedophile.

On the other hand, when looking at Sasuke, it seems not difficult to understand his teacher.

He pushes his bicycle and walks with Sasuke crossing the river that he once went home from school and walked with Obito, and sees a man of his age lying on the green grass slope by the river to enjoy sun shower.

Ouch.

He says to Sasuke, wait me for a while.

He pushes the bicycle onto the grassy slope and looks over to the lying man, saying what are you doing here, Obito.

"Hey...hey!?" The lying man sees Kakashi's big face in front of his eyes and stammers: "You, you, Kakashi, I, I--"

"I'm Kakashi, you are Obito, and you can speak slowly." Kakashi's face is calmed, and his palm is sweating.

"Kakashi Sensei, who is he?" Sasuke comes down the slope and asks, pointing at the man who looks a fool.

"Oh, Sasuke, this is Uchiha Obito, your distant relatives. Obito, this is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't know how your relative relationship is, but Obito seems to be closer to your honke(本家), right?"

Eh, let's forget it, it's too complicated of your Uchiha family. Kakashi sighs inwardly.

"A small child, and you are a teacher?" The expression of Obito is mixed, and then he remembers something quickly, "I say, you will not..."

Kakashi interrupts him immediately, saying that of course it is not what you think, and I am just sending him home.

Then he squeezes his eyes frantically and wanted to express something to Obito: If I touch him with a finger, I will probably be wiped out. Do you understand?

Obito looks at his squeezing eyebrows dumbly, no one knows if he understands or doesn't understand.

The three walk towards Sasuke's home in an embarrassed atmosphere.

Obito wanted to help Rin send wedding invitations to Kakashi, but he forgot to ask Rin for the letter, so when it comes to this, Kakashi asks him, where are the invitations?

No. Obito's pocket is empty.

Where is the wedding? And when?

Obito doesn't know.

Yak. Kakashi sighs, yes, so this is Uchiha Obito.

"What do you mean?"

"Stop, don't, in front of my students, do me a favor."

Sasuke watches the two man throw words back and forth for a while, as if he has understood something, and runs a few steps forward, saying that Sensei it is here, thank you very much, I shall go home now. Bows deeply towards them, and then disappears in sideways to the door of a mansion.

The mansion looks better than Obito's home.

Sometimes it is hard to say if children of this age are too sensible or too precocious, Kakashi thinks.

"Oh, this family. It is indeed my distant relatives."

Kakashi glances at Obito and thinks that is nonsense, he lives here and has a surname of Uchiha.

"I know their brother, he's called Itachi."

Again the long admiring name again.

"...So you have nothing to do with him right?" Obito turns his head to Kakashi, even Kakashi doesn't want have any conversation about this, this man is still turning the subject back, "Just in case..."

"It's really nothing, just teacher and student, I think you should forget that thing, Okay?" Kakashi looks a little irritable.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Obito.

"Nothing."

"Why are you mad?"

"I'm not angry."

"You obviously have."

"I do not have."

"...I'm Sorry, I take the blame just now, don't be angry please."

"I said I'm not angry, are you deaf?"

When it comes to this point, they walk back to the place they used have the agreement. The same river, in different seasons, and the surrounding scenery has been changed.

The streetlights changed, the fence changed, and the benches changed.

They also changed.

Stopping his steps, Obito looks at the river, thinking, how could he forget the time he spent with him for so long?

At this moment, he finally knows that he has no way to forget anything about Kakashi.

Kakashi walks in front, and it takes a while for him to realize that Obito doesn't follow. When he stops and looks back, the two are far apart.

They look at each other in the distance, as if they don't have to disguise when they are far enough.

The more you grow up, the less you dare to express your feelings simply.

Obito walks slowly towards Kakashi. He thinks he should say something, but he doesn't know what to say or how to say.

Language is so pale and weak.

Kakashi doesn't move. He wants to step back, but there is something he expects.

In the past, long time ago, he has told himself that he shouldn't expect anything if he doesn't need it.

Because everything after the expectation in the future will be difficult to face.

Even he does not evade, Obito will do. Even he is not afraid, Obito will do. Because he has imagined through the whole scenario in a negative way, in the end, he would only say nothing.

"Look, it was here at that time." Not far from him, Obito says so.

He doesn't really want to listen to the content behind.

But he is a kind and kind-hearted man, he looks at Obito patiently and waits for the following context.

"Us."

Obito stops a few steps away from him, and begin to scratch his hair and organize words in his brain.

It is so hard.

Language is so difficult.

Obito remembers that Kakashi is the representative of the Japanese class. This kind of thing should have been done by him.

"Can I also, invite you, to be with me?"

Ah... yes. Kakashi feels dazzled, as if he looks at Obito in his 14 year-old.

Or present Obito?

It’s okay, it’s good, it's all right.

The difference is time, and the same is still time. The time passed, the time elapsed, and the time comes in the future.

Time is everything.

"How long?" It takes too long to say a word for Kakashi, only because the heat of his heart has returned to his body after such a long absence.

This simple question stumps Obito, and he grabs his hair even harder for a long time and says, "I don't know..."

Kakashi feels like he is going to faint.

"For example? Ten thousand years? What do you think?" Obito stretches out a finger and smirks at him.

"Fool!"

-End-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This note is different from my original version.  
> Generally I translate this story only because I found that in - Rising Tide- part, there are many mistakes that Google translate will do, because of the culture differences or something, which may mislead readers.  
> The story happens near Enoshima Island, generally in Japanese style, maybe there are some mistakes made by myself.  
> Only one thing I want to explain to English reader is, the "Ten thousand years" verse comes from an old movie A Chinese Odyssey, and wiki link is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chinese_Odyssey . Of course there seems no relationship between this movie and manga Naruto. The movie is about a love story that in the end protagonist lost his lover, and he promised to Goddess that if he had a second chance, he would told the girl that he loves her, and if there was a limitation of this love, it would be ten thousand years.  
> Here comes the verse.  
> And in the other part, love, like, feeling, is very hard to translate, to Chinese, or to Japanese, vice versa. Hope I have choose the right word.  
> Thanks for reading.


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